from
The True Soul
in
The Jívaro:
People of the Sacred Waterfalls
by Michael J. Harner
University of California Press
The "true or "ordinary soul, the nekás wakanï,
is born at the same moment as the person and is possessed by every living
Jívaro, male or female. The true soul is present in the living individual
primarily in the form of one,s blood. Bleeding is therefore viewed as a
process of soul-loss. This soul is passive during a person,s real life and
apparently is of relatively little interest to the Jívaro in terms
of their total native belief systems.
When a person dies, this true soul leaves his body and, in invisible
form, eventually returns to the site of the house where the deceased individual
was born. There the soul lives in a spirit house identical to the one in
which the deceased was born, except for the fact that the spirit house is
invisible to the living. The true souls of other deceased members of the
family are likewise dwelling in this house. Similarly, the true souls of
former neighbors return to their original house sites as well. It is believed
that the true souls conduct their household activities and visit each other
just as they did when their possessors were alive. As the years pass, these
souls move from house site to house site in the same order, and over the
same span of time as they did when incorporated in living individuals.
One significant difference should be noted between this hereafter of
the true soul and the real life of its former possessor: these souls are
always hungry. Although they engage in subsistence activities and eat what
appears to be food to them, it never satisfies them, because it is really
just air. The "animals which these souls hunt in the forest are only
the souls of the birds, fish, and mammals which they killed in their former
lives. Such an existence of perpetual hunger is the fate of the true souls
of all persons without regard to the kind of life they led while in living
individuals. Needless to say, the true soul,s fate of persistent starvation
is dreaded by the Jívaro.
One can often see deer and owls lingering in the vicinity of abandoned
garden and house sites. The Jívaro interpret the presence of such
creatures at these old living places as evidence that the animals are temporarily
visible embodiments of true souls. The true souls, when they are in these
visible forms, are referred to as "human demons (°uar iwanCï).
There is a moderate fear of them, particularly by woman, and the Jívaro
taboo on the eating of deer meat is based on the fear that eating such an
animal might result in a deceased person,s soul entering the body of the
living person, with the result that he may subsequently die. These "human
demon animals are often seen in pairs, a fact the Jívaro interpret
as indicating that the two creatures are temporarily visible forms of the
souls of a man and his wife.
When a true soul has thus repeated the entire life history of its deceased
owner, it ceases its existence as a "human demon and changes into a
"true demon. As a true demon its form is permanently visible and more
or less human, although a good deal uglier. The true demon roams the forest
hungry, solitary, and lonely, feeling greatly the loss of the company of
its former family. When a Jívaro child wanders into the forest and
is not found immediately, it is said that a true demon carried off the child
because it was so lonely for human companionship. Although it may take the
Jívaro two of three days to find the lost child, they almost always
succeed, and therefore say that the true demon never harms children, but
only wants to play with them.
Then the true demon, after existing for a span of years equivalent to
a human lifetime, dies and changes into a certain species of giant butterfly
or moth called wampan. This creature has markings on its wings which
lend it the appearance of an owl,s face. All the wampan are believed
to be souls and are said to be always hungry, as is the case with any of
the forms that the true soul takes. When a wampan flies inside a
house, one of the persons there tosses a small piece of manioc or a few
drops of manioc beer in its direction. The Jívaro believe that since
the wampan might be the soul of a dead relative or friend it would
be wrong to neglect its hunger. They do not fear the creature, however.
After a length of time about which the Jívaro are uncertain, the
wampan finally has its wings damaged by raindrops as it flutters through
a rainstorm, and falls to die on the ground. The true soul then changes
into water vapor amidst the falling rain. All fog and clouds are believed
to be the last form taken by true souls. The true soul undergoes no more
transformations and persists eternally in the form of mist.
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